Teamsters rally in Memphis behind Republic Services workers

The nation’s second-most powerful Teamster came to Memphis Sunday with Teamsters from across the nation to express their support to sanitation workers employed by Republic Services.

About 180 employees are working under an expired contract to serve about 200,000 Memphis-area residents, including through 17 local governments, and more than 10,000 businesses.

Most of the workers staged a three-day strike in late January, returning to work after the company belatedly issued safety bonus checks.

Ken Hall, Teamsters general secretary-treasurer, met with the workers at the Local 984 headquarters along with officers and union members from Los Angeles, the San Francisco area, Ohio, Michigan and Florida, said Matt Brown, a Teamster organizer.

The two sides cite different issues that they say are most important to them.

Republic Services officials want to end the workers’ participation in a defined benefit retirement fund — Central States Pension Fund — that is severely underfunded. Instead, Republic wants workers to start contributing — with a company match — into a 401(k) retirement fund.

But the top issue for local workers is the pay structure, Brown said. Sanitation truck drivers are paid a set amount each day whether they work fewer than, or more than, eight hours.

“When guys are pulling trash from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., they just want to be compensated for it,” he said.

The company has said its drivers start at $40,000 a year in wages and on average make $58,000.